Okay. I am aware that my Facebook is a feedback loop of liberal attitudes since I'm pretty liberal myself. I'm also aware that most reputable news outlets lean a little to the left—or at the very least, that no one's eager to cast the Trump administration in a good light. So I have a really good sense of (and, frankly, am tempted to echo) the quasi-apocalyptic tenor that's taken over discussions of politics in my traditional social circles.

But I don't see much reporting about the other side. So here's my question: how are conservatives responding to Trump? I'm not talking about congressional conservatives, who are in the news a lot and are largely falling in line with the party, or about conservative media like Fox, which itself often offers criticism of the administration. I'm talking specifically about the common citizens who liked Trump and voted for him. Are they pleased with the executive orders? Are any of them among those voicing concern about his cabinet picks, since he promised to "drain the swamp" but doesn't seem to be doing so? Do they believe his accusations that the media are all corrupt and dishonest? Do they still like his brazen and confrontational style now that he's in office?

And yes, I know it sounds like the subtext of my question is "have they figured out yet that they were wrong and that Trump is an idiot?" I won't deny that that's what I'm thinking—but I'm trying hard to move beyond that mindset, and I think part of that is trying to understand where the other guys are coming from. So, please, sincerely—I'd love to know what conservatives think of Trump's first month in office.

-Thusly

A:

Dear Thisly,

Several of my extremely conservative friends seem to be loving the executive orders. I see them posting weird fear-mongering articles about Muslims and Mexicans, with captions along the lines of, "Good thing Trump will take care of this!" They haven't said anything about the other things he's been doing (not draining the swamp, calling almost every single news outlet "fake," trying to censor scientific organizations, etc). I don't know if that's because they're stuck in a conservative echo chamber and are unaware of those things, or if they just consider them unimportant.

Then again, several of my friends who were pretty outspoken about their support for Trump have stopped posting anything about him at all. Nothing speaking out against him, but nothing supporting him, either. Maybe they're quietly changing their opinions, maybe they only bother to learn about politics during an election, or maybe they don't care.

I haven't seen anyone publicly change their opinion on Trump, though. That doesn't mean they haven't, just that they aren't public about it.

You may also be interested in this CNN article that talks about why Trump supporters still like him.

I found a really great blog on Slate called "Today in Conservative Media." They read right-leaning blogs and news outlets, and summarize them daily in a non-condescending way. I've found that it's been a great resource to understand where my dad and others are coming from. Apparently Trump is still quite popular among the political right.

http://www.slate.com/topics/t/today_in_conservative_media.html

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